Some 2,500 Singaporeans led by local bloggers staged a protest at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park yesterday, calling on their government to withdraw its new licensing requirement imposed on local news websites.

The peaceful rally was organised by a group of bloggers called #FreeMyInternet, who are against the licensing regime that came into force on June 1.

The group believes this to be an attempt at censorship and an infringement on the rights of Singaporeans to access information online.

NONE In a statement issued following the protest, #FreeMyInternet said it was encouraged by the success of its first campaign against the new MDA Licensing Regime, which many media commentators see as the turning point in Singapore's media regulatory landscape in the island republic.

It said more than 4,000 people signed its online petition (as at yesterday afternoon), while more than 150 blogs took part in its online blackout and an estimated total of 2,500 participated in Singapore's largest blogger-led protest yesterday afternoon.

Moving ahead, it said the #FreeMyInternet movement would continue to call for the withdrawal of the Media Development Authority (MDA) Licensing Regime.

Programmes to educate members of the public

In the weeks to come, #FreeMyInternet said it would roll out material and programmes to educate members of the public and Members of Parliament about why the Licensing Regime needed to be withdrawn.

"We do not rule out a dialogue with the government, but this dialogue needs to be a discussion on how the withdrawal of the Licensing Regime will take place, and should be a dialogue about how de-regulating the media environment can best be done to benefit Singaporeans," it added.

From June 1, 2013, online news sites that report regularly on issues relating to Singapore and have significant reach among readers in the republic must have an individual licence issued by the MDA.

Under the licensing framework, online news sites must be individually licensed if they:

Report an average of at least one article per week on Singapore's news and current affairs over a period of two months; and

Are visited by at least 50,000 unique IP addresses from Singapore each month over a period of two months.

- Bernama